THE GAVEL OF AUTHORITY

SHORT TALK BULLETIN - Vol.IX July, 1931
No.7

by: Unknown

“The common gavel is an instrument used by operative
Masons to break off the corners of rough stones, the better to fit them for the
builder’s use; but we as Free and Accepted Masons are taught to use for the more
noble and glorious purpose of divesting our hearts and consciences of all the
vices and superfluities of life, thereby fitting our minds as living stones for
that spiritual building, that House Not Made With Hands, eternal in the
Heavens.” Mackey, distinguished authority, states that the name comes from
“Gabel” because the form of the common gavel resembles that of the gable of a
house.

But the student will look in the ritual in vain for any
allusion to the gavel as an instrument of authority, although in some form it is
primarily the badge of power and authority of the Master, and, often in another
form and always in a lesser degree, of the Wardens. In various
Jurisdictions throughout the United States the interested visitor will find in
use in the East common gavels, stone Mason’s hammers made of both wood and
metal, the ordinary mallet gavel of the legislative halls, the auctioneer’s
hammer, and a setting maul in all shapes and sizes. All these various
implements, in diverse forms and materials, are used as the symbol of the
authority of the Master. Apparently it is not so important that he have a
particular symbol; that is, that he carry a “common gavel” or a “setting maul,”
but that he have always in open Lodge, in his possession, some instrument with
which blows may be struck, as a symbol of his power, his authority, his right to
preside and to rule.

Many studious Freemasons contend with some show of reason
that inasmuch as the common gavel - the mason’s hammer with one sharp edge - is
one of the working tools of a speculative Entered Apprentice while the setting
maul is not classified as a working tool, the gavel, and not the maul, is more
logically the Master’s symbol of authority. Certainly unless Grand Lodge
has ruled otherwise there is no argument to be used against a Master presiding
with common gavel, whether real, of metal, or imitation, of rose or other
valuable wood. But those who find their only argument for the use of the
common gavel as the symbol of a Master’s authority in the undoubted fact that it
is one of the striking tools of the stone mason, as well as a working tool of
the Speculative Craft, hardly go far enough into antiquity.

As a symbol of authority the hammer is as old as
mythology. Thor, the Scandinavian son of Odin and Freya, possessed a
miraculous and all-powerful hammer which he threw to do his will. When
this was accomplished - usually it was a slaying of enemies or a destruction of
something which the God did not like - his accommodating hammer straightway
returned to his hands!

Thor, like Jove, also controlled thunderbolts, and from
this early myth we associate lightning and thunder with the hammer. We
also invert the thought to develop the idea of the authority in a hammer or
gavel from its age long association with the power of lightening. The
connection is world wide, and by no means confined either to Freemasonry or to
Norse mythology. Thor and his hammer are at the bottom of the old “hammer
rite of possession.” Thor, God of lightening, by virtue of his control of
fire was also the God of the domestic hearth. In ancient days a bride, on
taking possession of her new home, received a hammer thrown in her lap as a
symbol of possession. When her husband purchased land, he took possession
by throwing a hammer over it.

The Indian God Parasu Rama, or Rama of the Battleax,
obtained land from the God of the sea by throwing his battleax over the earth,
and became possessed of all that it spanned. The South Sea Islanders use a
“celt” or hammer, often of huge size, before the chief’s dwelling as a symbol of
authority. Mrs. H.G.M. Murray Aynsley (English Authority on mythology),
says “The Hammer has its uses in Freemasonry as a symbol of authority - the
auctioneer, too, used a hammer - here we see possession implied by the falling
or throwing down of a hammer.

Thus, when the Master of a lodge first brings down the
gavel to convene the Lodge, he by that blow says in effect, “by this act I take
possession of this Lodge.”

G.W. Speth, famous writer on Freemasonry, draws attention
to the curious articles drawn up by the stone masons of Torgau, in Saxony, in
1462.

And every Mason shall keep his lodge free of all strife;
yea, his lodge shall be kept pure as the seat of justice. And no Mason shall
bear false witness in his lodge, neither shall he defile it in any manner.

Therefore shall no Mason allow a harlot to enter his
lodge, but if any one have ought to commune with her he shall depart from the
place of labor so far as one may cast a gavel.

Grand Lodges are sovereign within their Jurisdictions.
Whatever their ukase, it immediately becomes right within that Jurisdiction.
We find anomalies in American Freemasonry as a result. Thus, most
Jurisdictions demand that a Master elect “pass the chairs” or receive the Degree
of Past Master in a Chapter of the Royal Arch before he may be installed.
But that is not true in all Jurisdictions. Where it obtains the practice
is both right and ancient. Its absence is “right” when Grand Lodge has so
ruled. Since the formation of the Mother Grand Lodge in 1717, Masonic
jurists have conceded the right of a Grand Lodge to make Masons “at sight” as
inherent; that is the right to convene an occasional or emergent lodge, under
dispensation, set it to work and disband it when its work is done. Some
American Grand Lodges have ruled to the contrary. It is “right” in those
Jurisdictions that a Grand Master cannot make a Mason “at sight.” In
forty-three of our forty-nine Grand Jurisdictions, two of the three Great Lights
are the Square and Compasses. In the remaining six, Compasses is
incorrect, and “compass” is right - aye, with every lexicographer, dictionary,
encyclopedia and Masonic author-ity to the contrary,. “compass” is right in
these Jurisdic-tions.

Under the doctrine that whatever a Grand Lodge declares
to be right, whether by actual words or by tact agreement, is the law and the
practice for that particular Jurisdiction, any for of striking instrument which
is customary is the correct form in that Jurisdiction. The Grand
Jurisdiction which sanctions setting mauls in all three stations, uses the tool
which is correct in that Jurisdiction. If the Grand Lodge sets forth that
the Master shall use a “common gavel” and the Wardens setting mauls, that
practice is there correct. If nothing is said to imply that the Master
must use the “common gavel” as a symbol of authority, then the familiar form of
mallet or hammer - by far the commonest form of a presiding officer’s instrument
- may be considered as correct as any other. We are not very liberal
minded in our Masonic symbolism. The Square and the Compasses on our
Altars are hardly large or strong enough to play Operative parts in stone
cutting and setting. The “working tools” we present to initiates are but
miniatures of the real tools they symbolize. The trowel which we tell a
candidate is more especially the essential tool of the Master Mason, is usually
far too small to spread real cement between real stones. Certainly no
gavel of wood, be its form what it may, can “break off the corners of rough
stones.” So, while the beauty of the symbolism of the “common gavel” as
the presiding officer’s instrument of authority is obvious, usage and custom and
expedience in many lodges have metamorphosed it into a little mallet of wood,
just as the tiny square upon the Altar is an expedient metamorphosis of the
great metal tool of the Operative Mason. Perhaps it is not so important
that the wood of the gavel be carved to imitate some particular striking tool of
the Operative Masons, as that the brethren understand the power and authority
inherent in it.

Whatever form of gavel is used, the Master should always
retain possession of the instrument and never have it beyond his reach. He
should carry it with him when he moves about the Lodge, whether in process of
conferring a degree, or when the Lodge in charge of the Junior Warden at
refreshment. This, be it noted, is not only because it is his symbol of
authority, but to remind him that, although his position is the highest within
the gift of the brethren, he is yet but a brother among brethren. Holding
the highest power in the Lodge, he exercises it by virtue of the commonest of
the working tools.

All powerful, within certain limits, in the Lodge, the
Master has authority to temporarily transfer his power. He may honor a
visitor by presenting him with the gavel (and should always remove his hat when
the gavel passes). He may place another in the Oriental Chair to confer a
degree (in most Jurisdictions) at which time he hands over the gavel of
authority. Because he has the right to transfer the authority, he should
always be in position to exercise it; another reason for always retaining
possession of his gavel! The authority by which the Master rules is not,
of course, the mere physical possession of a piece of wood or iron. The
Master may be a physical weakling. Some powerful two hundred-pounder may
easily wrest from him the emblem of authority, but such forcible possession
would not transfer the authority. The authority to use the gavel comes
first from election and installation, the powers of both of which ceremonies
rest on the authority of the Grand Lodge. Once installed, a Master cannot
be deprived of his gavel of authority except by the Grand Lodge, or the Grand
Master “ad interim” (or his deputy acting in his stead). The brethren
elect to the East, but cannot “unelect” or take away the power they have once
given. The gavel of authority is not transferable save by the will of its
lawful possessor, except at the order of the Grand Lodge, or the Grand Master
(or his deputy acting for him). In most Jurisdictions such an action by a
Grand Master or Deputy, “ad interim” Grand Lodge. is reviewable by the Grand
Lodge at its next succeeding regular communication.

The Master enforces the authority of which the gavel is
the symbol - first and usually last and all the time - by the good will and the
Masonic practices of his brethren. Few Lodges would tolerate disobedience
to the gavel by any brother. Occasionally a hot-headed brother has
attempted to defy its power. In such cases the Master may ask the offender
to leave the room. His failure to respond lays him open to charges of
un-Masonic conduct and a Masonic trial. The Master may request the
Marshall or Master of ceremonies to remove the offender. Or the Master may
- as sometimes has been done - us the gavel to call from labor to refreshment,
during which period there will be plenty to admonish the offender of the
enormity of his offense against Masonic law. good manners and good taste!
The charges given a Mason at the close of all three Degrees are generally held
to have the binding force of all other Masonic teachings and obligations.
The brother who signs the by-laws as a Master Mason agrees by so doing to abide
not only by them but by all the unwritten usages and customs of the Fraternity
and all the admonishments of the charges. Those who know their ritual will
recall that in the charge of the third degree it is said: “The ancient Landmarks
of the Order you are carefully to preserve and never suffer them to be
infringed, countenance a departure from the ancient usages and customs of the
Fraternity.” Obedience to the gavel is indeed an “ancient usage and custom” of
the Fraternity. Rarely is it defied - never with impunity. But to reach
its fullest respect, the gavel must be wisely used. “It is fine to have a
giant’s strength— It is despicable to use it like a giant!” applies here.
The Master “may” do what he will in his Lodge. He may cut off discussion,
rap a brother down, cause a brother to leave the room, refuse to put a motion,
declare the Lodge at recess, close at his pleasure, control debate, arrange the
work, refuse a bother permission to speak - all with the gavel. But the
wise Master uses his great power sparingly and never arbitrarily. While
the peace and harmony of the Craft are maintained, he need not use it except as
the ritual or custom of presiding in the Lodge requires. If he so uses it,
it will be respected, its possessor will be venerated, and its transfer to
another hand will be considered by the brethren what it actually is, a great and
signal honor.

No Master may pay a higher tribute to any brother than to
intrust him with the gavel. He offers it to the Grand Master (or his
Deputy representing him), because it is the right of those dignitaries to
preside in all private Lodges. He offers it to another to preside during
the conferring of a degree, or to a distinguished visitor, as a mark of the
greatest respect and confidence. A gavel is not a necessity. A
Master and two brethren can open and close a Lodge if they have the Great Lights
and a Charter. Lesser Lights, a gavel, Warden’s columns, Aprons, and Altar
are not essential. Without the Great Lights and a Charter (or
dispensation) a Lodge cannot be opened, though it has every other accessory.
The gavel, then, is the symbol of the authority, not the authority itself.
Like all great symbols, it takes upon itself in the minds of the brethren
something of the quality of the thing symbolized. As we revere the cotton
in stripes and stars which became the Flag of our Country; as we revere the
paper and ink which became the Great Light in Masonry, so, also, do Freemasons
revere the little hammer, mallet, setting maul or common gavel which typifies
and symbolizes the height of Masonic power and authority - the majesty of power,
the wisdom of Light which rest in and shine forth from the Oriental Chair.